Monday, January 31, 2005

More house stuff...

Well, it appears that things are winding up on the house and soon the construction phase will be finished. This week, the last of the granite for the kitchen will be installed and the plumbing (thank God) will be restored so that we will have running water inside the house for the first time since the start of construction in October. It is a dirty, dusty mess and even though I am excited at the prospect of moving in, I am dreading all the work it is going to take to clean it up just so it can be moved into.

Over the past few days, the medicine cabinets and vanity lights were installed in both the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms. The tub was dropped into its spot in the pedestal, and the vanity for the upstairs bath was assembled. Granite slabs were ordered for the shower seats in both bathrooms, and for the vanity top in the upstairs bath. Crown and baseboard moldings were completed in the guest bedroom and most of the moldings in the front room were completed.

What's left? Well, the kitchen still has tiling work to be completed for the backsplash. The living room (den) still has to have its french doors installed, but they are on special order and we are still waiting on them. All plumbing fixtures, such as toilets, bathtubs, showers, faucets, water to dishwasher and refrigerator, etc. have to be installed. Wainscoting has to be installed in the dining area. The oil tank needs to be cut up and removed from the basement. Tile needs to be laid in the laundry room. The garage interior has to be demolished and re-sheetrocked. Lighting fixtures have to be installed on the first and second floors. A soffit is being built for the front of the house which will change its look pretty dramatically. Then new siding has to be installed, along with new shutters and a new garage door. There's more, but these are the biggest of the jobs, and at least we can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Even after the construction is completed, there is still work to be done. Painting will take several weeks, then carpeting has to be installed. After that, shutters and window treatments. Only then can we think about moving.

All in all, though, things are winding down and now we're starting to think about the packing process for the current house, and throwing away what we don't need. It's all a little overwhelming...we're still cleaning out Jess' grandmother's apartment, which has been a long process, and having cleaned out the new house before construction started...well, it seems as though we'll never stop cleaning up houses!